The Wedding Deal by Cindi Madsen a five-star read that will make you want to settle. This is the first novel in the Heart in the Game series and my first read by this author and I can’t wait for more, Lance Quaid could be a rotten character born with a silver spoon and handed a football team, but he was so well written that you really felt for him. Charlotte James was another one, she could have been a rule following ball breaker, but she is great she has real depth to her. I for one can’t wait to hear more about these ball playing Mustangs. Pick this one up if you are in need of funny, sweet and hot drama.

Charlotte James is the HR manager for the San Antonio Mustangs NFL team. Her job just got a whole lot harder when her old boss died and left the team to his grandson, former quarterback for the Tennessee Titans Lance Quaid, her peaceful existence was over. Lance can't believe how his grandfather allowed so many of his employees to slack at their jobs and he's not going to tolerate it on his watch, he starts by firing half the staff and using inflammatory language.

As the two of them work together to fill the vacancies with the right staff, and make sure they have legally terminated everyone that Lance sacked, Lance learns that Charlotte has a encyclopedic knowledge of NFL stats and Charlotte learns that her hot boss is also a secret geek. Then, when all the work isn't enough pressure, Lance's family are on his back about his brother's wedding and his plus one. Cunning idea ... why not get Charlotte to act as his fake date, they can work when not involved in wedding activities and he'll get some respite from the family pressure.

This was fun, light-hearted chick-lit romance. Well-written and easy to read, but nothing memorable.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Cindi's books are always so light-hearted and cute!

If you're looking for a sweet, light, and fun sports-romance read, I think you'll be pleased with this story. There is a balance of cute and sexy moments. There isn't a lot of angst. The secondary characters are charming. I just wish that Charlotte and Lance's love story took place over a long period of time for me to buy-in to the depth of their feelings for each other.

I loved this story. It features a football team and it was just such a fun story. It stars Charlotte and Lance. C is head of Human Resoruces and Lance is the new owner of his own football team. Essentially she tells him their are compalints about him and he firees everyone but her. So he decided they need to work together to build a team..

Meanwhile Lance's brother is getting married so he takes C to the wedding so they can work around the clock as they try and rebuild a winning football team. Meanwhile they become great friends and fall into lust with each other. C is a bg rule follower and so it was very cute how she quotes all the rules to Lance.

I really loved this story it is pure fun with an amazing and fun set of characters.

I haven't had really good luck with the last two books I requested.
I tried, I did. But this book didn't work for me. The POV doesn't help to tell the story. And the plot doesn't make much sense. Charlotte is an obnoxious character not likable at all, I mean an HR manager doesn't tell the boss what to do or what not to do. Honestly, she was kind of TSTL.
Also, the amount of time the words paperwork and form show up drove me crazy, At some point, I was just counting them.
The only good thing in this story was Lance. He was the one that helped me to finish the book.
I'm so disappointed. I'm not sure if I want to try with this genre again.

Charlotte and Lance meet when Lance takes over his late grandfather's NFL team, immediately firing most of the team to the dismay of Charlotte. She is HR and constantly reminds him when he breaks a rule from the HR handbook (got a tad tiring I must admit).

When Charlotte accompanies Lance to his brother's wedding as his fake date, sparks fly. The book is easy to read and kind of predictable but a very nice beach read!
You can never go wrong with a Cindi Madsen book.

A lighthearted sports romance that is appealing even if football is not your game of choice. The dialog is fast paced and filled with witty banter. Lance and Charlotte are two characters who are simply endearing and easy to form an emotional attachment to...the route to their HEA was entertaining, at times laugh out loud funny.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

This was a surprisingly great read! The story revolves around just retired quarterback, Lance (due to an injury) who inherits his grandfathers's NFL losing team and Charlotte, the team's Human Resources director., Charlotte calls Lance on his inappropriate business behavior and quickly shows how important her role is to the organization. She is also a unbelievable statistics person with incredible knowledge of any player. It isn't long before the two start developing a romantic awareness of each other, especially when Charlotte agrees to attend Lance's brother's wedding as his plus one.

The relationship between the two develops nicely and Charlotte is a wonderful character. I really enjoyed this book and will be on the lookout for the next one in the series.

I received a free ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Wedding Deal is a short, easy-to-read romantic endeavor with an overabundant amount of ‘whirling’ and ‘swirling’ adjectives of desire and generated heat between the leads: Charlotte and Lance. Their romance takes place in the workplace as Charlotte is the head of Human Resources of the professional football team that Lance has recently acquired. This of course leads to the aforementioned ‘whirling’ and ’swirling’ desire, as Lance spends more time with Charlotte due to his asking her to be his faux wedding date to his brother’s wedding so that his mother can stop throwing eligible women at him. This was a predictable romance with cringe-worthy moments, in my opinion. I felt that Charlotte was a random over-sharing loner who had a great position in her career, but had only one friend who happened to be the roommate that she met 6 months ago…? Charlotte over-shared a tremendous amount while also vehemently forcing Lance to stick to the Human Resources handbook so that they would not cross any lines… i.e. Char was a hypocrite with low self-esteem. Reading through the transplanted sexual tension between the two characters, we learn very little about Lance, except the basics: ex professional football player who is an eligible bachelor that has inherited a professional football team. Without any added fanfare, The Wedding Deal is meant for a reader who wants an easy, to-the-point romantic interlude that takes place within several days and pushes the characters close for some heated jolts that excite and jolt you, the reader.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun read. It’s sort of a sports romance except from the head office instead of the field as a retired quarterback, Lance Quaid, inherits a football team with an abysmal record. Think of inheriting the Cleveland Browns. Lucky for him, his HR manager is also a numbers genius who knows more about football players than the most experienced coach. She can recite stats and do analytics like the best scout. With her help, he can rebuild his disaster of a team. And she makes the perfect date for his brother’s wedding to keep his mom off his back.

It’s all supposed to be a working trip, not even a pretend romance, but you know where this is going. He hasn’t read the memo that all pretend dates to weddings lead to true love in romance novels.

Despite the predictability and the unbelievability that one woman could be so excellent at performing what are basically two jobs, I still found this a very enjoyable book.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

It’s been a week since Lance became the owner of Mustangs, a NFL team and already he has stacked up multiple complaints because of his behavior, creating a nightmare for the Human Resources manager, Charlotte.
Lance has a short time to turn the team around and after firing half of the staff, he knows he needs Charlotte in his corner.
Already swamped with work, he doesn’t want to waste time warding off his mother’s match making efforts. He manages to convince Charlotte to attend his brothers wedding with him. They can get work done and she will be the perfect buffer to his moms matchmaking.
But they don’t think the effect of being in such close quarters have on the attraction already simmering between them.
This was a fun and entertaining romance. Charlottes quirkiness with rules was adorable and I enjoyed the fact that this was a more of a office romance than a on the field players romance. It was a easy read with some well written characters. This was a good start to a series that I am looking forward to reading more of.

Ok. So I don’t love football, but I do like a good sports romance, and this delivered. I thought it was super cute and I loved the sexual tension! Another great book. Thank you for the ARC.

When the new owner of a struggling NFL team fires most of his staff he needs to depend on his super capable HR manager to put in some extra hours even if it means accompanying him to his brother's wedding as his plus one. I love that Charlotte was a strong and successful woman who knows her job but also kills it with her fantasy football league every year. I love that Lance may be cranky but he is not stupid and is able to see the value in all of Charlotte's skill sets, He is not afraid of listening to her opinion when it comes to coaches or players something other men in the football rarely do. Their attraction is instant but being away from the office at a beach wedding forces them to spend a lot of time together making it harder to ignore. Even Charlotte's endless ratting off of possible handbook violations (and I mean endless. for me it stopped being cute early on) cannot stop what is happening.

This is a straightforward story that never deviates from what you predict will happen from the beginning. I like the author and she manages to keep the story light and engaging. The conflict is easy to see coming and I really hated Lance's over reaction which made the it hard for me to forgive him so the ending was a bit less than satisfying for me.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cindi Madsen “The Wedding Deal” was a lot better than I originally expected. The opposites attract approach to this sports romance was a favorite of mine and despite how different Charlotte and Lance were, they were able to fit like a puzzle piece and balance each other out. They were a mature couple filled with flaws whom were able to persevere and create a bonding connection. A heartwarming read filled with relatable characters and promising premise.

I received an advanced reader's copy of The Wedding Deal by Cindi Madsen from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had never read anything by Cindi Madsen before this and had no expectations either way. Happily, I did enjoy her writing style and would like to read other novels in the future.

The good: I found the novel to be well written and the dialogue between the characters (primary characters as well as secondary) was amusing. In particular, the banter between the main characters - Charlotte James and Lance Quaid - made me laugh out loud several times. Also, the plot was a bit different (in a very good way) from other romance novels set in a sports environment.

The bad: nothing really bad about this novel (again, in a very good way). It may have been predictable, but it was a well written/executed novel with likeable characters. I enjoyed it!

Sports romance and this is a good one. Lance is a former quarterback who inherits his grandfather's team. Charlotte is his rule bound Human Resources head. He fires a bunch of head office personnel and needs her help to fill those positions. She's willing to attend his brother's wedding across country to continue the time sensitive job requirements. The romance is right and we like the characters. It's fun and very interesting how draft day works. Good read.

I absolutely loved this book, and I don’t even like football. That being said, please give this book a try even if you normally not a sports fan.
I have been a Cindi Madsen fan for a while and she is one of my go to authors. I honestly think she can write a book about golf or the weather and it be super fun and cute to read.
I loved that all her books have some kind of pop culture reference and are fun and funny. You always get laugh out loud moments, but also heartwarming and honest issues in one book. I also like that she has some very relatable characters no matter what the book or theme.
This is no different in this case….
When we very first meet Lance, you get the idea that he is another typical asshole alpha male, but as soon we get his POV for the first time it is clear that that is not the thing, He is funny and loving, and above all a loyal family dude. Of course it doesn’t hurt that he is drool worthy. But of course he has his asshole moments too, so don’t worry . Overall I really, really liked Lance.
Charlotte, she seemed a bit stiff and all her rule following was a bit much …… at first. But then we get to see the real Charlotte and I loved her. We learn more about her and loved discovering along with Lance why she is the way she is.
Overall I really loved this book and didn’t want it to end. I can’t wait to see who will be next and hopefully we will see more of Charlotte and Lance in future books, because they are beyond adorable.
If you are a fan of contemporary romance, this is a must read book. Also check out any of her other books and I promise you will fall in love with them.
I rate this book full 5 ★

If you're looking for a sweet, light, and fun sports-romance read, I think you'll be pleased with this story. There is a balance of cute and sexy moments. There isn't a lot of angst. The secondary characters are charming. I just wish that Charlotte and Lance's love story took place over a long period of time for me to buy-in to the depth of their feelings for each other.

Funny and light-hearted, ‘The Wedding Deal’ is an easy and entertaining read, even for those who don’t particularly follow sports or even like it. Who can, after all, resist a woman who gives as good as she gets when it comes to sports statistics?

Cindi Madsen’s witty portrayal of both Charlotte and Lance tickled my funny bone and I had more than a few snort-giggles at Charlotte’s by-the-book behaviour and Lance’s hilarious unfiltered thoughts and words from the start. What follows isn’t quite the fake date to a wedding but a work-related one (it’s written down in black and white, much to Lance’s exasperation and Charlotte’s buttoned-up insistence) though the path to happiness is rocky and filled with rule-book arguments about why boss and subordinate shouldn’t be together.

Part of the story’s sports-related and the other half is wedding-party-stuff related—neither of which I could fully get into when I got into the middle—but despite getting lost a little in the football details and the sudden influx of secondary characters, there’s enough cuteness, fluff and rom-com type vibes to pull the whole deal through especially for the chick-lit reader.

This book was an unexpected surprise. I couldn’t put it down once I started reading. The Witty banter between Lance and Charlotte was so fun and real. I really enjoyed that it wasn’t a typical boy and girl fall in love but another girl gets in the way. This book dealt with real family issues. I 100% would recommend this book.